Somewhere in mid
fifties, speaking in the Parliament, Premier Nehru said, “once Portuguese are
ousted from Goa, Goans will be given a choice to decide their future but will
not bring them under the Indian Union against their wishes”. According to political observers a referendum
should have been conducted on this issue but once grabbed, Nnowehru and his
Congress Party forgot the assurance given to Goans. This is called cheating and India is well known in this art.
On 31st
December 1974, both the Foreign Ministers of Portugal and India namely Mario
Soares and Y.B. Chawan respectively, signed a Treaty in Delhi officially
surrendering Goa to India. This Treaty
comprised only 6 Clauses giving no benefits and privileges to Goans to protect
their rights.
While the same India
when it signed the similar Treaty with
France with regards to Pondicherry, on 28teh May 1956, India
incorporated in this Treaty 31 Articles and 8 Articles of Protocol. All these Articles are regarding the wishes,
aspirations of and safeguards for the citizens of Pondicherry. These Articles were arrived at after a couple
of years of consultations with the representatives of the citizens of Pondicherry.
Again our last
aspiration to protect our Goanness was rejected when Special Status facility was
denied to us by the BJP government by citing Constitutional hurdles when the
same Constitution of the same India granted Special Status privileges to 11
States in India.
When Goa matters we are denied our rights and privileges but for others
there is no problem. Are we Goans second
class citizens of India? We are treated
not as liberated but as conquered and precisely because of this the Supreme Court of India in its verdict on Pe. Chico
Monteiro’s case declared “Goa was conquered” on 19.12.61.
A.Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim, Goa.
Tel:7507394349.
